Azerbaijan has great chances to get Moscow's support on Karabakh

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RECORDED BY RASIM BABAYEV

Baku has great chances to get Russian support in the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in the light of Yerevan's foreign political slant towards the West, Azeri Daily was told by editor-in-chief of the publication 'Analytics of the South of Russia,' a well-known expert on international conflicts, Evgeny Mikhailov.

'In my opinion, Azerbaijan has very good chances for Moscow's support in connection with the recent events in the seemingly friendly Armenia,' Mikhailov said, commenting on the meeting of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan.

According to the expert, the problem of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have been too protracted and 'the world community in the person of the guarantors of its peaceful settlement should now come to certain positive results on this issue.'

'Azerbaijan behaves more diplomatically and restrained than Armenia, although it could, without relying on anyone's opinion, solve the issue by military means. Baku respects the opinion of the guarantors, but its patience can come to a limit,' Mikhailov emphasised.

He noted that everyone understands this, 'especially Russia.'

'Moscow understands that although Pashinyan does not show an obvious aggressive policy towards Russia, so as not to anger the population, all his steps are still aimed at strengthening Russophobic policy of Armenia. Negotiations on cooperation with NATO, regular rallies with calls to withdraw the military base from Gyumri are of increasing concern to the northern ally. Moreover, Pashinyan frankly recruits officials who instil hatred for everything Russian in the government. Whether it is the education minister, who openly opposes the Cyrillic alphabet, or the head of state control who threw eggs at the Russian embassy earlier,' said the expert.

According to him, these factors can influence Moscow's decision positive for Baku.

'Armenia is moving farther away from relations with the Kremlin, not noticing what such changes led to in the form of 'velvet revolutions' in Ukraine and the countries of the Middle East. Azerbaijan, on the contrary, is stable and with all of its actions supports Russia's position on the world arena on many issues. These are very significant factors, which, most likely, will lead to the return of the disputed occupied territories to the historical bosom,' Mikhailov emphasised.